Two years after, police’s appeal on constables’ recruitment for hearing next month

The Supreme Court has listed for hearing the police high command’s appeal against the Court of Appeal judgment, which affirmed Police Service Commission’s (PSC) constitutional mandate to recruit constables.

The Guardian, at the weekend, learnt that the case, which had been abandoned for two years, has been relisted for hearing early next month.

In a unanimous ruling on September 30, 2020, a three-man panel of the appellate court, led by Justice Olabisi Ige, held that the IGP lacked the powers to recruit into the force. It ruled that the powers to carry such rests exclusively with the PSC.

The judgment overturned the December 2, 2019 verdict of a Federal High Court, Abuja, which upheld the powers of the IGP to carry out the recruitment of 10,000 constables.

PSC spokesman, Ikechukwu Ani, confirmed the development, adding that the appeal would be heard in October.

It was gathered that the acting PSC chairman, Justice Clara Ogunbiyi (rtd) recently attempted to meet with IGP Usman Baba and Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammed Dingyadi, to resolve the impasse.

A source stated: ‘”The retired justice wrote a letter to the IGP to ask for a meeting so that the legal issues around the constables’ recruitment could be ironed out, but the police boss in his reply, said the date she suggested for the meeting was not convenient, while not proposing alternative dates as expected.

“What is playing out is that the police authorities did not want to subject themselves to civilian supervision and control.”

They do not want to be accountable and that is why the commission workers are against the appointment of another retired IG as chairman.”

Findings revealed that successive administrations have consistently violated recommendations of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms, which admonished government to “appoint only civilians with non-police and non-military backgrounds as the commission’s chairman to avoid conflicts of interest.”

Meanwhile, three former Inspectors-General of Police (IGPs) and a retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) are currently lobbying to replace ex-IGP Musiliu Smith as PSC chairman.

Smith, who assumed office on July 25, 2018 alongside other commissioners, was supposed to complete his five-year tenure on July 2023, but he resigned on health grounds about two weeks ago.

His tenure was marred by a face-off with the police authorities over the recruitment of police constables.

A retired Supreme Court justice, who is Commissioner I in the commission, Ogunbiyi, has since taken over in acting capacity.